You Did NOT Just Sneeze at Me
by xXKanpekiXx
Summary: HikaruXAkira. Akira has a nervous tic that interrupts important moments in his life. It doesn't prove problematic until Hikaru tries to confess... Hold on to your hats, folks, it gets a bit rocky.


Oh, my, it's late and this was the best that I could come up with. This idea started as something lighthearted, but as I was writing it, it turned much more serious. I kinda threw together an ending I hoped would resolve the sticky situation with a nice resolution. I don't think I did a good enough job, though. Sorry, but I felt that I wanted to put up another AkiXHika.

Uhh, I guess this could be considered a follow up to the "Message on a Go Board" story, but I can make a fluffier, happier piece for that. Connect it if you wish, but I'll most likely post the REAL follow up as a second chapter in the original story. So, I don't really know what this is...It's past one in the morning and I'm tired as fuck. Going to bed now. Bye.

Enjoy? I don't own anything!

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"You did NOT just sneeze at me."

"I…I didn't MEAN to! I can't control it!"

"Fine. I get it. I try to be serious, spilling my heart out to you and you…YOU SNEEZE AT ME?"

"I'm sorry! Please, continue!"

"No, I'm-ACHOO!"

"See, you're not serious! I don't know WHY I even like you. You're not serious about this, you're just mocking me! Forget it!"

"Wait! Hikaru, please!" Akira Touya sneezed at the most inconvenient times. It was never a problem, really, until he hit 7th grade.

When he was younger, he'd let out a sneeze during one of his father's lectures or has he was making a move during a practice game. Nothing too embarrassing and nothing even that noticeable. Since he was always so polite, covering his nose and apologizing profusely, it was almost a benefit, solidifying his manners.

However, this minor inconvenience grew progressively worse over time, amounting to more and more awkward situations.

Sneezing while answering a question in class, sneezing during a pro match, during a Go lecture, in the middle of an exam. For whatever reason, it kept happening and no regardless of how much allergy medicine his mother insisted on him taking. The best result from THAT dead-ended venture was the time they had forgone the regular non-drowsy remedy and reached for the regular kind, as if that would make a difference. That was the only time Akira ever fell asleep during a Go lecture. Luckily, no one held it against him as his track record was impeccably clean.

Even at this stage, the bouts of sneezing weren't that pressing an issue. They were still a minor inconvenience, but that wouldn't last for long. It would happen at more important times, causing even the high-strung Akira to blush.

Some say that his strange "illness" was caused by the fact that he was getting famous and more and more people were talking about him. Others say he was born with an inbred disease that is passed down in the families of unbearably stiff people. Ok, not many suggested the last, but it's a valid theory deserving of the time and effort necessary to explore its possibilities.

Well, even after going so far as a doctor's visit, Akira gave up hope of discovering what was causing this strange phenomenon. They just said it was a nervous tic. It wasn't really worth the trouble.

He could live with the not-so-minor inconvenience, right?

It didn't affect his health or anything, so there were no real problems. Oh, how wrong Akira Touya was.

Once he met Hikaru Shindo, he realized how wrong he was.

"…You did NOT just sneeze, did you?" The shocked, soon angry voice of the rising Go player jabbed Akira in the heart.

"I-I'm sorry! It happens al-ACHOO!" Hikaru gave Akira a skeptical glance, unconvinced.

"I'm trying to confess to you and you…YOU SNEEZE AT ME?" Obviously, Hikaru didn't believe that a sneeze was a harmless biological function. He frowned, looking sincerely hurt by Akira's problem.

"I-I…I"

"Save it. You did just sneeze at me..."

"I…I didn't MEAN to! I can't control it!"

"Fine. I get it. I try to be serious, spilling my heart out to you and you…YOU SNEEZE AT ME?"

"I'm sorry! Please, contin-ACHOO!"

"See, you're not serious! I don't know WHY I even like you. You're not serious about this, you're just mocking me! Forget it!"

"Wait! Hikaru, please!" Hikaru took off running, tears forming in the corner of his eyes from the person he loved not taking him seriously. He ran, Akira trying to chase after him, but to no avail. Hikaru was much faster.

Losing sight of him in a matter of minutes, Akira slumped down, cursing his affliction of sorts which had caused him more agony than he could have previously imagined. The person Akira was madly, head over heels in love with was sure that Akira didn't like him back and he would likely never speak to him again.

They went to different schools and talking was frowned upon during pro games. Any other time used for idle chit-chat, Akira would be refused.

It was over.

That slight problem had caused the downfall of his love life.

Sighing heavily and thinking of no better option, Akira trudged home, taking the train and once home, stomping up to his room. He got no sleep that night. In fact, he hardly got up for school the next day. It took five attempts from his mother to wake him up and get him moving. Behaving in a gelatinous form the entire day, he ended up losing a pickup game to a fellow freshman. Everyone thought it a fluke; that he was sick, perhaps, and they sent him home.

He didn't want to go home, however, and he ended up lingering around some Go salons, observing some games, but not actually watching them.

Once it got dark and the street lights illuminated the walkways with just enough light so sober civilians could navigate their ways home. Akira shuffled home, deep in his despair, until at the end of a familiar road, he saw Hikaru Shindo standing there. He looked up, wanting to run to him, hold him, convince him that he liked him too, but knew it would only make things worse.

He ended up turning around and heading in the opposite direction to avoid any fuss until…

"Hey, Akira!"

He sped up, not wanting any verbal abuse.

"Hey! Wait up!" Hikaru yelled, picking up speed, trying to catch up to the other boy, actually succeeding in his venture.

"Heehee, you never could out run me, you know. So, what's up? What kind of jerk doesn't say 'Hi' and just walks away? Hello? Anyone in there?" He chirped, seemingly as energetic as ever.

"I-I thought…you hated me? W-what a-are yo-ou doing?" Akira stuttered, hoping upon hope that he wouldn't sneeze at that moment. The gods seemed to hear his prayers and they let him off without so much as a sniffle.

"Oh, that? Ha-ha did I get you? Dude, that was a prank!"

Akira gave him a blank look and a puzzled "HUH?"

Hikaru snickered and said, between giggles, "Someone told me that you sneeze at crucial times. I thought it might be fun to try it out. I'm no Tom Cruise, but I can hold my own when I act, don't you think?"

"…You unbelievable bastard."

"What?"

"You…you think it's OK to toy with my emotions like that? So you confess to me and, what, LIE? JUST TO MAKE ME SNEEZE?" Akira was shouting now, fists balled up in rage, face turning red in fury. "You can't DO things like that, Hikaru! IT'S NOT FUNNY!" He was out of his mind with anger, fuming over his beloved playing with his mind.

Hikaru took a step back, and gave another nervous chuckle.

It was his turn to stutter.

"H-hey, I'm sorry Akira. I didn't know you'd get so upset about it."

"Didn't think I'd get upset? The only person I've ever loved 'confesses' to me and then storms off angry because of a nervous tic and comes to me the next day to tell me it was all a joke! YOU THINK I'M NOT UPSET?"

Akira had started to cry, moist tears rolling down his anger-ridden face.

"WELL, DON'T EVER PLAN ON PRANKING ME AGAIN! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH IT HURTS, LOVING SOMEONE WHO DOESN'T LOVE YOU BACK? SOMEONE WHO…who does shit like this…" Akira, despite his heated words, fell to his knees and put his face in his hands. He was shaking, trembling in his disbelief.

Hikaru motioned to place his hand on Akira's shoulder, but at the contact, Akira slapped his hand away and screamed "DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Hikaru was panicking.

He didn't know what he was supposed to do!

He liked Akira, he really did, but he had no idea how he was supposed to comfort him.

It's not likely that Akira would believe him now after he pulled that stunt.

It wasn't as if Hikaru had seriously meant that as a prank. He was earnestly trying to confess and, when he got flustered enough, broke out his clown act.

That bought him a first class ticket to Shitville. Population: Hikaru. One last attempt.

"Akira, I-*hic*." Touya lifted his face from his hands.

"What was that?"

Hikaru flinched and tried to speak again.

"I said that I really just mean to-*hic*-confess, but I got so sca-*hic*-scared that you'd say-*hic*-no that I pretended to-*hic*- get angry and-*HIC*- DAMN THESE HICCUPS! I-…" Akira Touya was laughing.

Quite odd, you might think, but he was. He was laughing really hard.

Somehow, Hikaru's seriousness had come through more effectively when he himself was burdened with a silly tic.

And, even more surprisingly, Akira forgave Hikaru, realizing in that instant that no matter how much he hated what Hikaru had done, he loved that damn prankster more than he could hate the prank.

"Oh, Hikaru, it's ok. I love you to-ACHOO!"

"…HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA" They both laughed wildly as they strolled away, hand in hand, onto the train and going to their separate homes, each much happier when they arrived than when they had left.

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Awful. Just awful. I hate my work XD. Review please? I could use the advice. That's the reason I'm on the site in the first place, to better my writing. Please help if you can!


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